By Jon Lopuch

1. This is the second annual Money in the Bank PPV. Last year’s incarnation emanated from Kansas City, MO. The show featured two MITB matches and a steel cage battle between Sheamus and John Cena for the WWE Championship.

2. This is the first year MITB matches will be exclusive to the MITB PPV. Each of the previous six years has seen a MITB match at WrestleMania.

3. The first occured at Wrestlemania 21 and was exclusive to Raw wrestlers.

4. That match was won by Edge, who cashed in the briefcase nine months later at the New Year’s Revolution PPV against John Cena. It was Edge’s first WWE Championship.

5. Edge’s first reign as World Heavyweight Champion was also the result of cashing in the MITB briefcase. After winning the contract from Mr. Kennedy, who won the WrestleMania 23 iteration of the match, Edge cashed in against The Undertaker at the May 8, 2007 Smackdown taping.

6. Edge is the only man to win the MITB briefcase in a non-MITB match.

7. The MITB match at Wrestlemania 22 was won by Rob Van Dam, who cashed in for a shot at John Cena’s WWE Championship at the One Night Stand PPV. RVD was victorious and brought the title to ECW for a short time.

8. Van Dam holds the distinction of being the only wrestler (“superstar”?) to schedule his title match ahead of time.

9. WrestleMania 24’s MITB match was the first such victory for CM Punk, who became the first man to cash in his briefcase on Raw. The opportunistic adherent of the straight-edge lifestyle took advantage of a weakened Edge, who was attacked by Batista seconds earlier, to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

10. Edge is the only man to both win and lose the World Heavyweight Championship thanks to the MITB contract.

11. Punk never lost that title in the ring. His reign ended when Randy Orton punted him in the head during a backstage interview at Unforgiven prior to the Championship Scramble, leaving him unable to participate a match that was eventually won by Chris Jericho. This episode would be re-visited as the impetus for the storyline leading into this year’s Wrestlemania match between Punk and Orton.

12. Punk’s WWE debut was just over five years ago, during the Fourth of July episode of ECW on Sci Fi in 2006. He was introduced in the previous weeks via promos.

13. One of CM’s first actions in ECW was capturing the heart of Kelly Kelly, who was an item with Mike Knox. Kelly and Knox’s relationship was a rocky one, ending when Knox threw roses at her and hit the Knox Out, his signature move. Ike Turner would have been proud at of that storyline.

14. The Second City Savior’s second MITB victory came at WrestleMania 25, making him the only wrestler to win consecutive MITB matches. He would cash in the contract two months later at June’s Extreme Rules PPV, defeating Jeff Hardy, who had just won the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge in a Ladder Match.

15. The MITB contract has been used to win a wrestler that particular championship for the first time in every instance except one: CM Punk’s used his second MITB contract to win the World Heavyweight Championship for a second time.

16. The MITB briefcase has been utilized three times in June, most of any month.

17. At last year MITB PPV, Kane became the only man to cash in the MTIB contract on the same night he won it.

18. The Miz’s 160-day WWE Championship reign is the longest of any which resulted directly from the MITB contract.

19. Edge’s 21-day run as WWE Champion following his win is the shortest.

20. Rosemont, IL is the site of tonight’s PPV. This was the location of The Undertaker’s WWE Championship win over Sycho Sid at Wrestlemania 13. Rosemont also saw Randy Orton and Triple H trading the WWE Championship at No Mercy 2007, an event that occured six days after John Cena was sidelined with a pectoral tear.

21. The Chicago suburb is perhaps prouder of hosting the classic Steve Austin/Bret Hart Submission Match from Wrestlemania 13 and the debut of Chris Jericho in 1999.

22. The Raw MITB match features two former World Champions (The Miz and Jack Swagger) and two other men who have won the Royal Rumble (Del Rio and Rey Mysterio).

23. The former tag team of Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel captured the gold three times before their breakup. That matches the number of reigns of such legendary teams as Money Inc., The Quebecers, and The Wild Samoans.

24. The Smackdown MITB match consists on one wrestler who debuted this year (Sin Cara); four who did so last year (NXT participants Barrett, Bryan, Gabriel, and Slater, coincidently enough in match inviolving current leader CM Punk); one we first saw in 2007 (Cody Rhodes); and one who debuted in 1997 (Kane, forgetting his time as dentist and Kevin Nash impersonator).

25. Perhaps the genesis of Mark Henry’s hatred of Big Show began while both were in tag teams. At Breaking Point 2009, World’s Strongest Man and MVP were unable to wrestle the Unified Tag Team Championship away from Jeri-Show. Seven months later at Extreme Rules 2010, Henry and Porter again failed to win the titles on PPV, this time falling to MizShow in a Gauntlet Match.

If you enjoyed the column, found an error, or just feel the need to be mean to someone while hiding behind your laptop, contact Jon Lopuch at dotnetjonmaterial@gmail.com.

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